I'm A Runner: Tate Donovan

Running is this actor's sport of choice because it's at the core of being in shape.

**The first part of this interview took place when Donovan was preparing for the November 2005 New York City Marathon.

Why do you run?"Why do I run? It's the best form of exercise. It's totally the core of being in shape. I really feel so good–anytime after the first mile. You start fantasying. You start thinking about things. You start mulling over problems you have. It's a wonderful meditation of sorts."

Are there any comparisons that you can make between running and being an actor?"A career in showbiz is like a distance run. You have to have patience and pace yourself."

Is there one place to see lots of celebrities running in L.A.?"If you want to take a run and see stars go around Lake Hollywood Reservoir. I've seen Madonna up there. I've seen tons of actors up there because it's near the studios. A lot of actors live in the Hollywood Hills. It's a nice flat three-mile run."

When did you start running?"My brother was a big marathoner. He was a great collegiate runner at Beloit College. He won his conference's races and he did tons of marathons. I would go out and run with him every once in a while just to hang out with him. But I was never like into competing or anything until a couple of years ago when I started riding my bike a lot. I got into Lance Armstrong. It's kind of a long-winded story. My father got cancer and he was getting chemotherapy right when Lance Armstrong, the summer of 1999, was winning the Tour de France. No one could believe that he (Armstrong) had cancer. Everyday I would read him (his father) the newspaper to encourage him. The chemo is just a brutal experience. So I got into cycling and a friend of mine started to do triathlons. I said 'I'll train in the cycling part of it all.' So I'd take him on these long rides and do hills. He was like 'Dude, you should do a triathlon.' I swam as a kid and am a pretty good swimmer. And I would run with my brother every once in a while. So I did my first triathlon. Not only did I beat him (my friend) but I won my division. It was the Malibu Triathlon. So I started to get into it and I started doing a lot of triathlons and part of that is a lot of running. The best runners are always the winners of triathlons. Everyone always freaked out about the swim but it's really the run that makes it. I've been doing a lot of running because I've been training for my first marathon, which I'm pretty nervous and excited about."

Which of your brothers was a big runner at Beloit?"That's Tim Donovan, my eldest brother. He's a great distance runner to this day. His best marathon time is 2:28. My other brother, Anthony, the first time he ever ran a marathon he ran 2:41."

Your family seems…?"Pretty competitive."

Or a running family?"Yeah. My image of my brothers is them coming in from a run, stretching and eating breakfast."

Would you run with them?"I would try to keep up with them. As I became older I would literally stay in shape and start running a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving or Christmas, when I knew I was going to see them. They don't take no for answer. It's like 'Come on, get up, we're going for a run. Go. Move it.' "

When did you do your first triathlon?"That was about three, four years ago."

How many have you done since?"I won that one three years in a row. I have done about 5 a year. I've done about 15 triathlons. I really threw myself into it. Some I do better than others."

Were your running 10Ks before you started doing triathlons?"Not really. I never really did races until I got into triathlons. It's just been a sort of new thing. It's really good. I'm glad I have. There's no better way to get yourself in shape than signing up for a race."

How long does it take you to recover after doing a triathlon?"They're different lengths. There are half Ironmans that are brutal; they will destroy you. Then there are sprints, where you don't feel that bad. Once the race is over you're feeling pretty good. That's the thing about triathlons, it takes the stress off any one specific point on the body. You're whole body feels pretty good."

How have you been training the last few years?"Pretty simple. Literally I would just swim one day. Cycle one day. Run one day. Do that six days a week and have one day off. Sometimes work would get in the way and I wouldn't be able to do that. Then I would double up on the weekends or try to get something in every day."

How long do train for each?"It would depend on the race I'm shooting for. I did the Escape From Alcatraz, which is a wild swim from Alcatraz Island to the shores of San Francisco in fifty-degree water. It's insane. The bike ride is easy. The run is long but hilly. You sort of adapt your training to each race that's coming up next."

Was that the hardest triathlon that you've entered?"The hardest one was one called the Wildflower Triathlon, which is just so hilly you would not believe it. It's in California and it's a 56-mile bike ride; it's just straight up and down these hills. Then the run is 13.1 miles, and it is just these trails. It's pretty much known as the toughest half Ironman there is. What made this specifically terrible was that I was shooting the movie Good Night and Good Luck; it's a great movie and you should see it if you haven't. I play a character who's a chain smoker. All those newsmen smoked like demons. So I'd spend all day on the set smoking cigarettes, and I am not a smoker, and I can't bear smoking, and then I'd go out for these long runs. It was just brutal. It was one of the worst experiences."

When did you start training for the New York marathon?"Starting around August (2005) when I got in. I started taking longer runs. I had a couple of more triathlons to do but now I'm just…, after September 25th, which was the Malibu Tri, the last tri I did, I've just been running. It's been tough. Really. For me, I'm 42 years old, so I'm just trying not to get injured."

Was the New York Marathon something you always wanted to do?"Yeah. My brothers did it when I was a kid back in '78 and '79. I just said to myself 'One of these days I got to do that race.' To me it's the ultimate marathon. I'm from New York and all my family is from New York, so to me, to just run through all five boroughs…all the people coming out, it's just such a great event."

You said that it scares you a bit. What in particular scares you?"As of right now the longest run I've been on is 17 miles. So I guess anything beyond 17 miles is the unknown. I want to do well. I don't want to come in 4 hours and 55 minutes, I want to make a decent account of myself. Just classic anticipatory anxiety: When am I going hit the wall? What will I do? I've had some bad races. Like Wildflower, I didn't hydrate well and I didn't really eat well and my legs cramped totally. For 11 miles I was the picture of the agony of defeat. I was just hobbling for 11 miles. It was so humiliating it was hysterical. I don't want to look like that at the finish line."

How do you break through the wall?"Whenever I'm feeling a lot of pain in a race I just try to relax and breathe and just dig deep. You relax and go. Relax and go."

Have you switched your workout routine for the marathon?"All running. I run 5 to 8 miles a day. And then on Sundays I'll do a long run, which has been about anywhere from 12 to 17 this last Sunday."

That will be your routine until the marathon?"Yeah until the week before. Then I'll just take it easy, just run a couple of miles a day."

Do you usually run outside?"I can't run on treadmills, they drive me nuts. I'm sort of lucky and I'm not lucky. I live in the Hollywood Hills; the first mile of my run is agony. It's straight uphill. It's just so hilly around here I can't wait actually to go to New York and run on some flats. It's really brutal. That's the only downside. I just can't bear that first mile straight up."

Do you run in the morning or night?"I run whenever I can. Sometimes I'll run during lunch if I'm working. I sort of have to grab it while I can."

Do you run on the set?"Oh yeah. I run during lunch from sets all the time."

Do you listen to music when you run?"I have a little iPod Shuffle. I think it's the greatest exercise equipment that's ever been made."

What kind of music do you put on it?"It's been funny since I've been training for the marathon I don't want to go fast, I just want to go long and slow. I've been listening to a lot of classical piano music oddly enough. I listen to Coldplay and Van Morrison. You know what I really love? I listen to a lot of African music. I just pretend I'm one of these great Kenyan runners and I'm just grooving to these great traditional African songs."

When you want to run fast what music will you listen to?"You know what's really odd? This is funny. I play traditional Irish music. I play fiddle. Sometimes I listen to a really great jig. That's really a fun up-tempo thing. But Coldplay is pretty good too for picking up the pace. With the African music I literally just pretend I'm some sort of Ethiopian and I feel twenty pounds lighter."

Is there one outfit you always wear or a particular sneaker?"No. I kind of switch around. It's ridiculous, actors get free schwag all the time. Nike or Adidas, or somebody, is giving you something fee. It's ironic, the moment you can actually afford it. You're a starving artist and the moment you get like a television show, or something like that, and you can afford to buy nice athletic gear they give it to you for free."

What sneakers are you using now?"I run in a pair of Asics, that I actually bought myself, and a pair of Pearl Izumis that I was given."

Do you usually run alone?"I run alone except when I visit my brother. We run together all the time. He lives in California actually. Santa Cruz is one of the great running spots on the planet. They've got these amazing forests and they have the beach. It's just perfect."

Do you ever run with your dogs?"Yeah, I do. I run with one of my dogs, Buddy, all the time. I ran with him this morning."

What kind of dog is he?"He's a mutt. He's an Airedale, Terrier and Lab mix. I have to drag him up the hills but once we get on a trail he's good to go."

I know David Duchovny has been quite vocal in his Malibu Triathlon defeat."I know he really is. I found it to be so funny how many people have contacted me about that. What's funny about David Duchovny is that he's a fantastic swimmer but he literally saunters around after the swim. It's really funny. He'll be the first out of the water every race. I've raced him three times. But it's like he's on a casual stroll after that. I found it really funny that he's upset that I beat him all the time because during the race he doesn't seem concerned at all. He's a total sweetheart that guy."

You'll do Malibu again as the reigning champion?"Yeah, probably."

Has your time improved over the three years? "It's kind of depressing, but no. They are about the same. The swim, of course, every year is totally different. You can get a tide. The swim, in most ocean tris, are very varied. My bike and my run have gotten a little bit better–just seconds. It's kind of frustrating."

Has the celebrity field changed much?"A lot of the same guys are there, like David Duchovny is always there and Jon Cryer is always there. A lot of the same guys are there. Will Ferrell was there one time. He's hysterical and a very nice guy too."

Is there anybody on The OC who is a runner?"Not on the cast too much. They do a lot of yoga and Pilates. I know Ben McKenzie goes to the gym a lot. They're young; they don't need to run. It's only when you get older. If you want to have desert you've got to run it off."

I am not sure if you can answer this, but is your character coming back next season to The OC?"I am really like the last guy to know. I suppose it's me, then the audience a couple of months later. I don't know. We all get along really well. I directed one and I think I'll direct some more. I think they want me to come back. It's hard to tell."

If you come back next season, or direct again, do you think you'll work in running? "I've been doing triathlons for as long as I've been doing the show and I've always said 'Hey, come on, why don't you have Jimmy be on a bike or on a run or swimming' and they're like 'Nah.' It's all about the soap opera. I don't think they're heavily into sports; they're more into Jimmy getting beaten-up by the Mob. Which, by the way, I did all my own stunts for. I don't know if you saw that scene where I get beat to a pulp and nearly drowned in the ocean. We did that one night down on the beach. It was insane."

After your triathlons how do you celebrate?"I'll drink a big Guinness at the pub. I love Guinness."

Do you give it up when you train?"It's funny I did give up alcohol, like all alcohol, no wine, nothing for three months, thinking that it would help my training for these races. It had no effect what so ever. So I'm back on the booze."

How do you feel if you can't work out?"It feels terrible. I'm completely addicted to the endorphins. I just feel so much better about myself. You ought to see me after the run; I'm in fantastic spirits generally. Unless I've injured myself and I'm worried. Basically it's just such a mood elevator. There are a lot of ups-and-downs in acting and directing, running endurance races is a fantastic model. If you can relax and just go steady and do as best as you can, that's sort of like the same thing in Hollywood. Because it's kind of crazy and you can take things so personally and have such setbacks and such leaps forward.

Before a race do you always eat the same thing?"Before every race I always have oatmeal with a banana in it. Irish oatmeal. Like McCann's. I have it a lot. It settles my stomach. It's like the "Breakfast of Champions" kind of thing. It's probably more good luck than anything else."

You'll probably have that before the marathon?"Yeah. Probably will. I'll mix some up and have it on the bus going to Staten Island."

Besides the iPod Shuffle is there any other running gadget you use?"I'll tell you what the greatest running gadget on the planet is…ready? Ice. I run on hills and ice is just, like, a magic cure for everything. When you get to be in your late thirties and forties it's unbelievable what happens to your body. The aches and the pains and the weird things that go on, you just can't believe. Ice is just the most amazing thing. I come home and put it on my ankle, my knees. It's the cure-all. I put it on for ten minutes and I feel great; I go out there and I am fine. It's funny. It sounds totally cliché."

Can you even walk after some of these tris?"I've had tough days after. It's amazing how your body comes back. That's one of the great lessons of endurance sports: This too shall pass. Basically you're in the middle of a race and you have to climb this hill and you are in agony and you're killing yourself and then you cross the finish line and two minutes later you're feeling great again. Or you're going downhill in the run and you're like this feels great. It's amazing how everything passes. Everything is constantly changing in a race and if you can withstand the pain…"

What's your favorite thing about running?"My favorite part of running is finding a great little patch of nature to run through, a little bit of forest or the beach. Nothing's better than a forest run as far as I'm concerned. You just feel at once totally alive and ancient. Human beings have been doing this for four million years. It feels great."

Is there one forest that you were talking about specifically?"Well, my brother lives up in Santa Cruz and it's called the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park and it's these awesome redwood trees, with these big fiddlehead ferns, this gorgeous river running through it and it's really one of the most beautiful places. It's like running through an Arthurian legend. It's gorgeous."

What part of running do you hate?"The first mile. The first mile of every run I'm like 'Ugh! I hate this. Why am I doing this? Forget the marathon. Forget it, I don't want to do it.' "

What is it that motivates you to run?"Being able to have desert basically. That and those moments of endorphin release when you can pretend that you're a Kenyan winning the 10,000 meter at the Olympics."

I know you were training for the Ironman?"I wanted to do the Ironman. They invited me and I was completely thrilled. I actually qualified on my own to do it when I did the Vineman Triathlon. But if you do a full Ironman it's like a full-time job to train. As much as I love to run and do triathlons, my first job is acting. I'm just starting to direct. Working as an actor is my great, great love. It was just too much work. I have a lot on my plate."

Would you ever do a full Ironman?"I would love to. That would be fantastic. I'd really love to accomplish that. I think me doing the marathon is part of that. Can I do a marathon? Okay I've ridden a 100 miles on my bike before and I've swam three miles but to do them all in one day is a lot. We'll see what my schedule's like. If I never get another job as an actor or as a director then maybe you'll see me out there, but you won't care because I won't be working as an actor or director."

Added after he ran the ING New York City Marathon in November 2005. He finished in 3:28:43

So how was the New York Marathon?"It was quite an unbelievable day I've got to tell you. It's one of the greatest experiences of all time. It's 37,000 runners and two-million people screaming the whole time. It's just going through all these amazing neighborhoods; Brooklyn where my parents are from. Going over the Staten Island Bridge. It's just spectacular. I was running really well. I felt surprisingly good and relaxed, I was taking my time. I wasn't pushing it. I found myself running it at 3:15 pace, which I was happy with. My strategy was to just really relax until mile 16 and then try to push it up to see if I could do a decent time. I hit the wall so hard. When you come into Manhattan you feel like a gladiator. You're coming downhill off this bridge and there are thousands of people and they're just going nuts. You feel just fantastic. I saw my family there. My family came from all around just to come out and see me. My fiancée's family was there too. I stopped, I hugged and kissed them all. They gave me some banana and I went on my way. I was like, 'This is fantastic. This is the most amazing day of my life.' Then I'm on mile 23 and I hit the wall so hard. Every muscle in my body was cramping. I was in total anaerobic shock. This was just insane. My time dropped precipitously. The last three miles I just ate it. I'm coming in, like mile 24, and I'm the agony of defeat and my fiancée runs out and I put my arm around her–basically she's holding me up. My brother, who ran the marathon before, was like 'Oh that dude is in trouble.' And my fiancée, in her flats and silk shirt, she didn't have running gear on at all, ran the last two miles with me. It was hysterical; the crowd just went nuts. They loved it. Here's this guy in total agony and this gorgeous woman in a silk top. It was really awesome. Literally, I was like, 'Oh my god, am I marrying the right woman or what?' The way it worked out was great. Perfect for someone who is about to enter marriage."

How was the recovery?"I was kind of stiff for a couple of days but nothing too bad."

How about your fiancée?"That's so funny. Like a day later she was like "Oh god, I'm so stiff after that run." She's not a runner at all. I was like 'You're stiff? You ran two miles.' I think she might have gotten a blister from running in Gucci flats. But what are you going to do? She looked good."

It was fortunate that you hit the wall at the end."Yeah, I had only like three miles to go. I feel as though I would have done a much better time, but what are you going to do?"

Were you happy with your time?"Because I was running like a 3:10, 3:15 pace and it didn't seem hard at all, I was really just enjoying it. I thought 'Oh wow, if I kill myself I might be able to come closer to 3.' I was really hoping for that. That would have been a dream come true. But that was hubris as it turned out."

Will you run another marathon?"Definitely."

Did you just drink water throughout the marathon?"I did everything. I had some oatmeal at the beginning and then I had Gatorade throughout the course, water throughout the course. I took people's oranges. A guy gave me some sort of sports gel. Oh man. Somebody came with Vaseline; that was a real life saver. I didn't eat it but I definitely needed it. My shirt really started to chafe me. This woman was just handing out little tongue depressors with Vaseline and it saved my life."

Is there another marathon on your calendar?"I was really inspired by people who ran with blind runners. Man that's something I'd like to do. I feel like I did my marathon for myself, but I would like to maybe do that (run with a blind person) the next time around. Not worry about time and my performance and just do it for someone else."